Pelosi taps Steve Israel to run DCCC

Rep. Steve Israel will head up the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2012 election cycle, a move that will vault the 52-year-old New Yorker into his party’s leadership ranks during what promises to be a political season for House Democrats.

Israel was tapped by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for the DCCC on Friday, according to Democratic insiders.

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Pelosi has also considered Reps. Joe Crowley (N.Y.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) for the DCCC post, but chose Israel instead, the sources said.

Israel has been a top loyalist to Pelosi over the last few years, and since Democrats lost control of the House on Nov. 2, he helped rally support for her to transition to minority leader in the next Congress.

He is also a prodigious fundraiser, bringing in more than $1.9 million for the DCCC last cycle, according to an internal Democratic tracking sheet.

But Israel – who still has to be formally approved for the DCCC job by the House Democratic Caucus – will face huge challenges heading into the next cycle.

Pelosi and her fellow Democrats lost more than 60 seats on Nov. 2, with huge losses coming in the ranks of moderate and conservative Blue Dog Democrats. Israel will have to find candidates who can win back these districts if Democrats can regain control of the House.

And Israel will have to do this in the middle of a presidential election cycle and with nearly two dozen Senate seats currently controlled by Democrats up for grabs, meaning there will be huge competition with the other Democratic committees – the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee – for donor dollars in a soft economy.

In addition, the DCCC has at least $17 million of debt heading into 2011, having tapped a big bank credit line in a failed bid to retain the House majority on Election Day. Israel will face a challenge overcoming that debt while still having the resources to back challengers and incumbents.

Born in Brooklyn, Israel graduated from George Washington University in 1982 with a degree in political science. After eight years on the Huntington town board, Israel was elected to Congress in 2000. He also has a seat on the Appropriations Committee.

According to his official website, “Israel enjoys writing, and published an anthology of historic military speeches entitled ‘Charge.’ Considered a consensus builder, he admits being highly partisan about one thing: the New York Mets.”